In today’s fast-paced world, effective time management is the key to staying productive and reducing stress. One of the most powerful tools for achieving this is the digital calendar. With a digital calendar, you have the ability to access and update your schedule anytime, anywhere, across multiple devices. Whether you’re balancing work, family, or personal goals, a digital calendar helps you stay organized and on track.
This article explores the benefits of using a digital calendar for time management and gives you step-by-step instructions for setting your schedule and reminders for enhanced productivity.
The benefits of using a digital calendar:
- Access your calendar anytime, anywhere, from multiple devices (phone, tablet, computer) with internet access
- Easily organize tasks, events, appointments, and deadlines in one central place
- See your schedule at a glance with a daily, weekly, or monthly view to help you plan effectively
- Set customizable reminders to ensure you never miss important events or tasks
- Allocate specific time slots for tasks to improve focus and productivity
- Set reoccurring events to reduces time spent on penciling in events on a paper calendar
Using a digital calendar is not just about keeping track of meetings and deadlines; it’s about creating a streamlined approach to your day-to-day life. Get started by logging into your free Microsoft account or free Google account (or paid account).
Microsoft Outlook Calendar
Add an event and a reminder to your Outlook calendar
- Go to outlook.live.com and log in with your Microsoft email and password.
- Once in Outlook, click the Calendar icon on the left side.
- In the calendar view, press the New Event button in the upper left.
- Type a title for your event. Add a description, if desired.
- Click on the date to change it, if needed.
- Select the beginning time and end time from the drop downs. Or toggle All Day.
- Use the Clock icon drop down (in the top menu bar of the pop-up) to set up a reminder at a predetermined time before the event. For example, you may choose to be reminded 1 day before. Then, when you are logged into Microsoft 365, a pop-up message will remind you of the event on the specified day.
- Press Save.
Microsoft Support articles: Outlook Calendar training
Google Calendar
Add a task and reminder to your Google calendar
- Go to calendar.google.com and log in with your Google email and password.
- In the calendar view, either click on white space in your calendar or press the +Create button in the upper left and select Event. Note: The Task feature does not offer the option of adding a reminder (notification). If you would like a reminder (notification), use the Event button.
- Type a title for your event. Add a description, if desired.
- Click on the date to change it, if needed.
- To add a time, make sure the All Day box is not checked. Click on the beginning time field. Then, select a time from the drop down. Click on the end time field and elect a time from the drop down.
- To add a reminder (notification), use the drop downs next to the bell icon. If you do not see the bell icon, click More Options. You can choose the reminder type (email or notification) and the number of minutes, hours, days, or weeks. A notification is a pop-up alert that will be visable on your computer if you have Google Calendar open in a tab. Perk: You can add multiple reminders.
- Press Save.
Google Help articles: Create an event and Create, find & edit reminders in Google Calendar
Tip: Add tasks and events to your digital calendar and then look at the month view. This will give you a visual of today’s date in relation to the upcoming events and due dates to help you plan and prioritize tasks. Then, use the weekly view or daily view to focus on the urgent and importants tasks for the day.
Additional tools to help you manage your time
- Sync your work, school, or athletic calendar with your personal digital calendar
- Set a timer to focus on tasks and take breaks
- Set an alarm to remember appointments or tasks
- Use a reminders application to remember appointments or tasks
Resources
These resources are provided simply to create awareness about other options for digital calendars.
- Apple Calendar for Mac and iOS users, also has a Windows application, free
- Fantastical is another popular cross platform digital calendar app, free for basic features
- MyStudyLife for students, free calendar and organization app
- Cozi for families, specify the family member for each event, free for basic features
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